Dave_P

I have to say this is really disappointing and short sighted. Not just because it makes a mockery of the current morring reduction trial period but because of the further impact on the towapth. Back in 2016, the north side towpath was resurfaced from the city centre,, out towards Wolverhampton. At that time I was doing my post-grad thesis on 'towpath conflict' and how changes to the built environment could either increase or decrease it. I spoke at length with A*** M******* who was the project lead for Birmingham City Council and J*** H***** who was the project lead for CRT. As part of these meetings we discussed the towpath 'improvements' on the north side and I was told that the same would be done on the south side at some point. I expressed my concerns about this, my comments being along the lines of "now that one side is done, it has pushed many towpath users to the other, muddier side so they can get away from the cyclists. if you do the other side the dog walkers etc will have nowhere to go". Having 2 towpaths means that 2 different surfaces and approaches can be adopted and everyone can be catered for. It was like talking to a brick wall. Both of them simply couldn't conceive of a reason why a towpath shouldn't be tarmacked if there's money to do it. I was met with blank stares from both of them when I tried to explain the problem. In 2016, the money came from the DfT via a thing called the Cycle City Ambition Grant. I presume another pot of grant money has now been awarded and again CRT and BCC can't think of anything to do with it but to tarmac more towpath. I was told in 2016 that the towpaths were chosen because they were "quick wins". In case you were wondering, yes I found various postive correlations between 'improving' towpaths and various negative outcomes, including more accidents and injuries and towpath users being driven away. It's also worth mentioning that the works done on the towpaths are often in direct contravention of the Trust's own guidelines for towpath design, introduced in 2013 https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/original/6873.pdf?v=cafb81

You first. https://www.lpropertylawyers.co.uk/is-it-a-good-idea-to-raffle-your-house/

When I'm ready to sell, I'll certainly put it on here.

Is this for me? I can see the potential but what if I fail to sell enough tickets? Those house raffle things work because the companies doing it have a big reach and advertising budget. It could be a money-spinner though I suppose? £2 a ticket maybe? I'd like about £45k for my boat so if I sold 23,000 or more tickets, then I'm winning. Are there 23,000 people who would buy a raffle ticket for a boat? I quite like this approach.

What gave you the idea that the mooring is transferable?

The paint is FAR worse than just blistered with rust. Also as said earlier, it's part repainted, but it's also been touched up over the years with various non-matching paints. If it was just blistered with rust, I'd just polish it, definitely. I think so too. Like said earlier, it's a sound boat. Reliable, well equipped, in good nick inside etc. But the first impression of it is bad. I have an experienced amateur painter who is pencilled in to paint it for me in April (I've seen their work and it's a lot better than mine). I've got to get the angle grinder out first though to do the prep.

Ok well Beau's paintwork is nothing like that. It's also partially repainted last year so really does need doing. It's a good honest boat but the first impression of it isn't great right now.

You haven't seen the state of the current paintwork...

Do they charge VAT on the selling price or the brokerage fee? I'm not too bothered about that. I'm either on the boat or 10 minutes away.

I like it! Perhaps I should also befriend an influencer and get them to post something about it? I hear this!! I think my priority is to maximise the price. But maybe the reach of a good broker means I can get more for it which would offset the broker's fee? Is £4k standard? I think I'm in the wrong job!

What about option 3? Do you think that would attract more buyers, especially first time buyers?

That depends on the asking price surely?

I'm planning to put my boat up for sale in the spring. I'm not quite ready to sell yet as there's some jobs I want to get done first and I'm having her painted in April to make her look her best. I've never sold a boat before so I'm wondering the best way to go about it. My options: 1. Take the boat to a brokerage and let them sell it. Pros: It might sell quickly and I don't have to do much. Cons: They take a cut, but I'm not sure how much? £1000? £5000? Anyone know? 2. Sell it myself from my current mooring (they don't have any rule against this). Pros: I get all the sale price. Cons: I do all the selling work. 3. Sell it myself from my current mooring but offer to take it to wherever the buyer is. Pros: I might get a higher price. I get to enjoy one last cruise. Cons: Not sure? 4. Take her down to that London and put her up for sale there. Pros: Might get a higher price. Cons: Time taken to get there, then I have to keep going down and moving on, unless I sell very quickly. What are the wise thoughts of the forum on all this? Of course, if anyone reading this is looking for a tried and tested liveaboard, let me know...

I contacted Daniel about 4 years ago with a request to be removed as a mod. This has yet to happen for reasons unknown to me. IMO there are only 3 active mods on the forum, and that's not enough for a balanced approach to moderating to occur. The other 5 moderators are either sporadically logging on (I'm one of those), or never logging on. Daniel's forum activity is somewhat sporadic too.

I can guarantee that it will need planning permission. The OP can DM me if he wants more advice on this. Alternatively theirs a very knowledgable planner at his mooring (Nicki/Odana).

You made some quick progress then, considering where I saw Vulpes at the weekend!

Maybe they'll learn when they sink a boat?

I can completely believe that CRT lockies can overlook basic safety. Here's my experience from last year: Locking out onto the Thames at Brentford. 2 lockies had arrived to see boats through. I took Beau into the lock first. There was another fairly wide boat coming in with me so I loosely tied my stern line on to a bollard to give them plenty of space to aim at. I knew that once on the tideway I'd have no opportunity to pee so took the chance to nip inside for a pee. I was quick, but by the time I'd got back onto the deck, the other boat was in, the gates were shut and the lock was emptying, quickly. No communication to see if skippers or crew were ready, or even visible. Nothing. My boat was already hanging up at the stern as I came out of the hatch. I screamed at the lockies to stop emptying the lock and and they just stood there staring at me like gormless idiots. By the time they realised what was happening the rope had snapped and the boat crashed down into the lock. Luckily the only damage was to the rope. I got the impression that the 2 lockies had no idea about safety or anything. They just turned up in a van when a passage was booked, pressed a few buttons and then went on their way.

Having previously worked for BBC TV I can confirm that editing can be pretty time consuming, but I suspect CTC has a decent set up and his vlogs are typically long-take talking head type things which don't take that long to edit. CTC's videos are typically about 15 minutes long and I'd guess they take about 5-8 hours to edit each one. Add the filming time on and you're looking at one longish day's work a week. But then he has to interact with his fans, run his website, attend boat shows etc, so it will add up to a bit. It's still an attractive life option for those looking to escape the rat-race.

I don't think anyone has got super-rich from canal vlogging but a small number have probably made a modest income for a few years and it's a bit enviable (if you don't mind talking on screen) to earn your living pottering about on the canals, making a video once a week, no boss, no ties etc. It's no wonder lots of other boaters have tried their luck at the same thing. I follow a few hiking/backpacking channels from around the world and again, it must be pretty sweet to earn a decent income from doing the thing you love. Equally, only the best ones will be making much money from it. I do notice the Foxes have a website selling merch and a patreon page with the top membership at £38.50 a month. I wonder how many top members they have? The patreon offers a private 20 minute video chat with the Foxes (the mind boggles what might be going on there, but I don't think they have an Only Fans page yet!). This personalised experience does seem to draw people in very closely, which I think is what Dora was getting at when she started this thread.

I have 7 subscribers, although why anyone would want to subscribe to my channel escapes me.